As 2025 draws to a close, television audiences are left picking through the wreckage of a year packed with high-profile disappointments. From long-awaited spin-offs to star-studded documentaries, a slew of shows failed to deliver, leaving viewers cringing, confused, or simply bored. We examine the year's biggest TV duds, where even A-list talent couldn't save projects plagued by bad writing, baffling choices, and a distinct lack of spark.
High-Profile Flops and Finale Fumbles
The third and final series of And Just Like That, the Sex and the City continuation, promised a return to form but ultimately bowed out on what many considered an all-time low. After a promising start, the show descended into storylines about natural deodorant and culminated in a notoriously symbolic shot of a toilet flooded with excrement. Creator Michael Patrick King confirmed the series would end, leaving fans to mourn what might have been, despite the occasional emotional moment, like Carrie Bradshaw's solo dance to Barry White.
Another major letdown was All's Fair, a Ryan Murphy production starring Kim Kardashian and Naomi Watts. The Guardian awarded it a rare zero-star review, criticising its leaden writing, tedious wealth worship, and parade of clichés. Kardashian's performance was widely panned, yet the show has paradoxically been commissioned for a second season.
Documentary Disasters and Drama Duds
Netflix's AKA Charlie Sheen proved to be a frustratingly indulgent three-part documentary. It chuckled along at the actor's hedonistic exploits without revealing anything new or offering meaningful critique, leaving viewers to sympathise more with those who have endured his chaotic behaviour than with Sheen himself.
In the drama category, The Iris Affair started with a preposterous but fun premise about a world-saving supercomputer called Charlie Big Potatoes. Despite the efforts of leads Niamh Algar and Tom Hollander, the series lost steam, ending with a whimper as Algar's character destroyed the computer in super slow-motion. Similarly, MobLand, starring Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren, felt like a relic from the late 90s, complete with clichéd settings and critically mocked Irish accents, all wrapped in a dull territorial drug war plot.
Reality Misfires and Sketch Show Slumps
The reality and factual space had its own share of failures. With Love, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex's foray into twee homemaking television, was dismissed by many as a vapid parade of crafting hacks and Hallmark platitudes, underpinned by vast wealth. Netflix's Victoria Beckham documentary was a cagey non-event that failed to delve into the interesting complexities of its subject, feeling more like an extended advert.
The Inheritance, Channel 4's attempt at a campy competition show hosted by a video-appearing Liz Hurley and executor Robert Rinder, was let down by bewildering rules and a failure to capitalise on its promising concept. Meanwhile, the long-awaited return of David Mitchell and Robert Webb in Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping failed to recapture their old magic. Despite a talented supporting cast, sketches like 'Sweary Aussie Drama' felt repetitive and thin.
Other notable failures included Lena Dunham's glossy but insubstantial London-set romcom Too Much, and the tonally chaotic dramatisation The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox. The sci-fi thriller Prime Target, starring Leo Woodall as a maths genius, became increasingly farcical, while Channel 4's 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story offered a shallow, horrific look at an OnlyFans star's record attempt without any meaningful psychological insight.
In summary, 2025 proved that big names and bigger budgets are no guarantee of quality. From symbolic sewage to zero-star performances, this year's television landscape was littered with ambitious projects that stumbled, offering viewers more frustration than fascination.
